The Verge reports that the company's Messenger for iPhone app added a new free calling button for US users. It's an initiative the company beta tested in Canada earlier this month, saying at the time that a US rollout was coming soon. Facebook confirmed the call feature has been released for its iPhone app today, though it provided no additional information on the feature expanding to other countries or mobile operating systems.

We attempted to use the new calling system but received an error message that said "Free Calling Unavailable." (TheNextWeb notes it's not yet available for all users.) But starting a free call within the app is pretty straightforward: find the user you’d like to chat with, tap the ‘i’ button on their profile, and then tap the Free Call button. Calls use either Wi-Fi or data connections and the recipient should receive a push notification prompting them to accept the call. (Again, as long as those involved are iOS users within the US.)

Given the vast number of Facebook users, this move has certain implications. If you're using an iOS device like an iPad or iPod Touch, you now have another app for making phone calls without a dedicated phone or data package. Let us know below if you'll try the Facebook calling when it becomes available to you.

The feature has beenavailable in Skype, Vibe and many other apps for years. Great way to call free to friends. But telcos tend to block it over data connections. Interesting to see when people start noticing... One day blocking will be passe and people mostly use data plans and no voice calls or SMS.

If its not on all platforms what's the point? It will be a niche just like facetime. Skype or Tango which are available on all platforms are where this is really at.

if I can't call all my friends, its a non-started for me.

I'm sure they're working on an Android version too. They've just been gradually rolling it out instead of all at once (it actually launched in Canada only last month, as the article mentions).

I think that was jefforange89's point. Sometimes, when you introduce a new application, you roll it out to a few places to test it out, then port it to more phones, etc.

But with this application, it gets value by being used by everyone. It is just a niche product otherwise. So people are going to try it out, find out they can't use it to connect to a lot of their friends, then delete it. Then Facebook will port it to Android, after people have already decided that it isn't a useful app.

If its not on all platforms what's the point? It will be a niche just like facetime. Skype or Tango which are available on all platforms are where this is really at.

if I can't call all my friends, its a non-started for me.

Note that the feature is more like "Skype out", where the recipient is just a regular phone number. It's not like FaceTime or regular Skype because it doesn't require the recipient to be using a special app. The big difference between this and "Skype out" is that it's free.

Does this mean Facebook will be keeping a record of all voice messages along with the text messages they already archive?

Sound files take up a lot of space compared to text. If they are doing that it probably means they're also working on some kind of speech analysis software for extracting information from it that could be used for marketing. It is certainly possible, but even then they wouldn't necessarily store it long term.

The feature has beenavailable in Skype, Vibe and many other apps for years. Great way to call free to friends. But telcos tend to block it over data connections. Interesting to see when people start noticing... One day blocking will be passe and people mostly use data plans and no voice calls or SMS.

I don't think cell carriers in the US actually block VoIP services, per se. I don't think AT&T has technically blocked FaceTime over cellular; they got Apple to do it for them. Facebook didn't have to negotiate with the carriers here, just Apple. What's interesting is that Apple let it slide, rather than holding up approval indefinitely, like they did with Google Voice way back when.

Looks like a great app but I think Facebook is going to have to be very careful where and who they roll it out to. Otherwise users might have a bad experience. For instance T-Mobile in Germany routinely blocks all VoIP calls/Internet telephony. This could harm Facebook's reputation.

If its not on all platforms what's the point? It will be a niche just like facetime. Skype or Tango which are available on all platforms are where this is really at.

if I can't call all my friends, its a non-started for me.

Note that the feature is more like "Skype out", where the recipient is just a regular phone number. It's not like FaceTime or regular Skype because it doesn't require the recipient to be using a special app. The big difference between this and "Skype out" is that it's free.

Where are you seeing that you can call a regular phone number? From the article...

Quote:

find the user you’d like to chat with, tap the ‘i’ button on their profile, and then tap the Free Call button. Calls use either Wi-Fi or data connections and the recipient should receive a push notification prompting them to accept the call. (Again, as long as those involved are iOS users within the US.)

Sounds like the recipient needs to be using the facebook app to be able to take a call.

Looks like a great app but I think Facebook is going to have to be very careful where and who they roll it out to. Otherwise users might have a bad experience. For instance T-Mobile in Germany routinely blocks all VoIP calls/Internet telephony. This could harm Facebook's reputation.

yes I agree. I hope they test this out on prisoners and in 3rd world countries before using it on americans. all code facebook runs should be peer reviewed and in the public domain, to improve the privacy reputation for Facebook.